Psalm 81–83

Oh, That My People Would Listen to Me

81To the choirmaster: according to ^fThe Gittith.¹ Of ^gAsaph.

^1hSing aloud to God our strength;

ⁱshout for joy to the God of Jacob!

²Raise a song; sound ^jthe tambourine,

^kthe sweet lyre with ^kthe harp.

³Blow the trumpet at ^lthe new moon,

at the full moon, on our feast day.

⁴For it is a statute for Israel,

a rule² of the God of Jacob.

⁵He made it ^ma decree in ⁿJoseph

when he ^owent out over³ the land of Egypt.

^pI hear a language ^qI had not known:

⁶“I ^rrelieved your⁴ shoulder of ^sthe burden;

your hands were freed from the basket.

⁷In distress you ^tcalled, and I delivered you;

I ^uanswered you in the secret place of thunder;

I ^vtested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah

^8wHear, O my people, while I admonish you!

O Israel, if you would but listen to me!

⁹There shall be no ^xstrange god among you;

you shall not bow down to a ^yforeign god.

^10zI am the Lord your God,

who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.

^aOpen your mouth wide, and I will fill it.

¹¹“But my people did not listen to my voice;

Israel ^bwould not submit to me.

¹²So I ^cgave them over to their ^dstubborn hearts,

to follow their own ^ecounsels.

^13fOh, that my people would listen to me,

that Israel would ^gwalk in my ways!

¹⁴I would soon subdue their enemies

and ^hturn my hand against their foes.

¹⁵Those who hate the Lord would ⁱcringe toward him,

and their fate would last forever.

¹⁶But he would feed you⁵ with ^jthe finest of the wheat,

and with ^khoney from the rock I would satisfy you.”

Rescue the Weak and Needy

82A Psalm of ^lAsaph.

^1mGod ⁿhas taken his place in the divine council;

in the midst of ^pthe gods he ^qholds judgment:

²“How long will you judge unjustly

and ^rshow partiality to ^sthe wicked? Selah

^3tGive justice to ^uthe weak and the fatherless;

^vmaintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.

^4wRescue the weak and the needy;

^xdeliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

^5yThey have neither knowledge nor understanding,

^zthey walk about in darkness;

^aall the foundations of the earth are ^bshaken.

^6cI said, “You are gods,

sons of the Most High, all of you;

⁷nevertheless, like men ^dyou shall die,

and fall like any prince.”¹

^8eArise, O God, judge the earth;

for you shall ^finherit all the nations!

O God, Do Not Keep Silence

83A Song. A Psalm of ^gAsaph.

¹O God, do not keep silence;

^hdo not hold your peace or be still, O God!

²For behold, your enemies ⁱmake an uproar;

those who hate you have ^jraised their heads.

³They lay ^kcrafty plans against your people;

they consult together against your ^ltreasured ones.

⁴They say, “Come, ^mlet us wipe them out as a nation;

let the name of Israel be remembered no more!”

⁵For they conspire with one accord;

against you they make a covenant—

⁶the tents of ⁿEdom and ^othe Ishmaelites,

^pMoab and ^qthe Hagrites,

^7rGebal and ^pAmmon and ^sAmalek,

^tPhilistia with the inhabitants of ^uTyre;

^8vAsshur also has joined them;

they are the strong arm of ^wthe children of Lot. Selah

⁹Do to them as you did to ^xMidian,

as to ^ySisera and Jabin at ^zthe river Kishon,

¹⁰who were destroyed at ^aEn-dor,

who became ^bdung for the ground.

¹¹Make their nobles like ^cOreb and Zeeb,

all their princes like ^dZebah and Zalmunna,

¹²who said, ^e“Let us take possession for ourselves

of the pastures of God.”

¹³O my God, make them like ^fwhirling dust,¹

like ^gchaff before the wind.

¹⁴As ^hfire consumes the forest,

as the flame ⁱsets the mountains ablaze,

¹⁵so may you pursue them ^jwith your tempest

and terrify them with your hurricane!

^16kFill their faces with shame,

that they may seek your name, O Lord.

¹⁷Let them be ^lput to shame and dismayed forever;

let them perish in disgrace,

¹⁸that they may ^mknow that you alone,

ⁿwhose name is the Lord,

are ^othe Most High over all the earth.